Reading, Speaking, and Listening: Describing the Moon and What It “Sees” | EL Education Curriculum

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ELA G1:M2:U3:L2

Reading, Speaking, and Listening: Describing the Moon and What It “Sees”

In this Lesson

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These are the CCS Standards addressed in this lesson:

  • RL.1.1: Ask and answer questions about key details in a text.
  • RL.1.10: With prompting and support, read informational texts appropriately complex for grade 1.
  • SL.1.2: Ask and answer questions about key details in a text read aloud or information presented orally or through other media.
  • SL.1.4: Describe people, places, things, and events with relevant details, expressing ideas and feelings clearly.
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Daily Learning Targets

  • I can ask and answer questions about night based on the text What the Sun Sees, What the Moon Sees. (RL.1.1, RL.1.10)
  • I can describe what the moon "sees" using evidence from pictures, videos, and the text. (SL.1.2, SL.1.4)

Ongoing Assessment

  • During the focused read-aloud in Work Time A, use the Reading Literature Checklist to track students' progress toward RL.1.1 and RL.1.10 (see Assessment Overview and Resources).
  • During Work Time B, circulate and listen for students to use words and phrases acquired through the read-aloud during the Role-Play protocol. Note how students are interacting with one another using the Speaking and Listening Checklist (see Assessment Overview and Resources).

Agenda

AgendaTeaching Notes

1. Opening

A. Building Vocabulary: Interactive Word Wall (10 minutes)

2. Work Time

A. Focused Read-aloud: What the Moon Sees, Pages 17-30 (15 minutes)

B. Role-Play: What the Moon Sees, Selected Pages (10 minutes)

C. Close Viewing: What the Moon "Sees" (15 minutes)

3. Closing and Assessment

A. Reflecting on Learning (10 minutes)

Purpose of lesson and alignment to standards:

  • This lesson gives students multiple opportunities to build their schema around what happens at night through reading and close viewing of pictures and video. This schema will aid students' understanding, ability to gather evidence, and inclusion of detail in future writing.
  • Young learners' comprehension is enhanced through routine and the opportunity to interact with new information in kinesthetic ways. The familiar routine of the Role-Play protocol and the introduction of the Interactive Word Wall promote student comprehension and engagement.
  • In Work Time C, students watch two 2-minute videos from YouTube.com.
    • Citation:MyBackyardBirding. "Wildlife in the Backyard at Night!" YouTube. 06 Aug. 2014. Web. 16 June 2016. (For display. Used by permission.)
      • Purpose: to observe what goes on at night in a wildlife setting
    • Citation: Truslow, Will. "Downtown Boston at Night." YouTube. 29 Mar. 2012. Web. 16 June 2016. (For display. Used by permission.)
      • Purpose: to observe what goes on at night in an urban setting
  • In the Closing, students discuss the Unit 3 guiding question--"How do writers use their knowledge and observations to write a story?"--to begin building a context for future writing.
  • If possible, give students access to What the Sun Sees, What the Moon Sees during the K-2 Labs and the K-2 Reading Foundations Skills Block.

How this lesson builds on previous work:

  • In Lesson 1, students were introduced to the text What the Sun Sees, What the Moon Sees. In this lesson, students zoom in on the details in the section What the Moon Sees and view pictures and videos of scenes at night to gather ideas and strengthen comprehension.
  • In Lesson 1, students learned how authors may choose to use their imagination to write about what an animal or thing might "see." In this lesson, students continue to build their understanding of this writing craft as they focus on the section What the Moon Sees.

Areas in which students may need additional support:

  • The Interactive Word Wall is a new protocol introduced in this lesson. Encourage all students to try the new protocol and assure them that this routine will be practiced again and again.
  • Although the Role-Play protocol is familiar from Unit 1, some students may continue to need support with their oral language. Continue to look for opportunities for support by providing sentence stems, modeled actions, and props.
  • Students may grapple with the idea of personification and that the moon does not actually "see." Continue to reinforce student understanding by asking questions like: "Does the moon really see things? Does the moon have eyes? Why do you think the author described the moon this way?"

Down the road:

  • Beginning in Lesson 4, students will begin to plan a class narrative poem. They will use the observations and knowledge gathered from this lesson, as well as from Units 1 and 2, to help them write a narrative class poem, "What the Moon Sees."
  • Students will then each plan and write an individual poem, "What the Sun Sees," as their assessment (Lessons 8-10).
  • In Lessons 11-13, students will revise and edit their poems, prepare for the end of module celebration, and present their poems to friends and family during the end of module celebration.
  • The structure and flow of this lesson will be used again in Lesson 6, when students begin gathering knowledge and observations around what the sun "sees" as preparation for their independent writing.

In Advance

  • Prepare materials for the Interactive Word Wall protocol:
    • Strategically place students in groups of three or four.
    • Prepare envelopes or baggies with one set of word cards and one set of arrow cards (see supporting materials).
    • Prepare Interactive Word Wall cards for sliver, crescent, full, and half (see supporting materials).These four words make one set.
    • Display Night photograph 1 and Night photograph 2 in color, if possible.
  • Prepare technology necessary to view videos and photographs in Work Time C.
  • Strategically pair students for the Role-Play protocol in Work Time B. Consider pairing students with varying levels of language proficiency. Those with greater language proficiency can serve as models in their partnership, initiating discussion and providing implicit sentence frames.
  • Review the Interactive Word Wall and Pinky Partners protocols. (Refer to the Classroom Protocols document for the full version of the protocol.)
  • Post: Learning targets and applicable anchor charts (see materials list).

Tech and Multimedia

Consider using an interactive white board or document camera to display lesson materials.

  • If you recorded students participating in the Role-Play protocol in Unit 1, play this video for them to remind them of what to do.
  • Work Time C: Show nighttime videos:

Supporting English Language Learners

Supports guided in part by CA ELD Standards 1.I.A.1 and 1.I.B.5

Important points in the lesson itself

  • The basic design of this lesson supports ELLs with opportunities to act out as one way of understanding the meaning of the text and explicitly discuss the term adjective and its function. Consider asking students how they might translate a similar phrase (e.g., sleeping children) in their home language, and whether the adjective system is the same (i.e., adjective + noun/thing).
  • ELLs may find making connections in the Interactive Word Wall challenging, because they may not know the meaning of the words to begin with. See suggestions in "Levels of support" and the Meeting Students' Needs column.

Levels of support

For lighter support:

  • Consider inviting students to add sketches to represent the meaning of the Interactive Word Wall cards in Opening A.
  • During the Mini Language Dive, challenge students to generate questions about the sentence before asking the prepared questions, based on their experience with the Mini Language Dive in Lesson 1. Example: "What questions can we ask about this sentence? Let's see if we can answer them together." (Why did the writer put quiet before barnyards?)

For heavier support:

  • During the focused read-aloud, help students who need heavier support by inviting a more proficient student to dictate lines for them to recite so that they practice using verbal language.

Universal Design for Learning

  • Multiple Means of Representation (MMR): In Work Time A, students listen to a focused read-aloud of What the Moon Sees. This text is read with a focus on the adjectives used to describe things the moon sees. Some students may need support in incorporating the most valuable information from the text into existing knowledge. Providing explicit cues or prompts to support students in attending to the features that matter most. Before reading, activate background knowledge by previewing the question you will ask. (Example: "As I read, I will pause and ask you to share the meaning of adjectives the author uses.")
  • Multiple Means of Action & Expression (MMAE): In this lesson, some students may need support in setting appropriate goals for their effort and the level of difficulty expected. Appropriate goal-setting supports development of executive skills and strategies. Offer scaffolds for students learning to set appropriate personal goals, such as a checklist with three goals for the lesson. (Examples: I can connect four word cards; I can play my part during the Role-Play protocol; I can share two ideas of what the moon might observe.)
  • Multiple Means of Engagement (MME): During the focused read-aloud in Work Time A, some students may need explicit prompts to relate to this text. Optimize relevance by making the information in the text personalized and contextualized to students' lives. (Example: Pause as appropriate and ask students to share connections to the text based on their own lives.)

Vocabulary

Key: Lesson-Specific Vocabulary (L); Text-Specific Vocabulary (T); Vocabulary Used in Writing (W)

New:

  • connect (L)
  • quiet, empty, silent (T)

Review:

  • adjective, sliver, crescent, moon, night (L)
  • bright (T)

Materials

  • Interactive Word Wall Protocol anchor chart (new; teacher-created; see supporting materials)
  • Interactive Word Wall cards (one set per group)
  • Arrow cards (one set per group)
  • What the Sun Sees, What the Moon Sees (one to display; for focused read-aloud)
  • Reading Literature Checklist (for teacher reference; see Assessment Overview and Resources)
  • Adjectives anchor chart (begun in Unit 2, Lesson 4; added to during Work Time A; see supporting materials)
  • What the Moon Sees anchor chart (new; co-created with students during Work Time A; see supporting materials)
  • What the Moon Sees anchor chart (answers, for teacher reference)
  • Role-Play Protocol anchor chart (begun in Unit 1, Lesson 4)
  • Speaking and Listening Checklist (for teacher reference; see Assessment Overview and Resources)
  • Close Viewing Protocol anchor chart (begun in Module 1)
  • Night photograph 1 (one to display)
  • Night photograph 2 (one to display)
  • "Wildlife in the Backyard at Night!" (video; play in entirety; see Teaching Notes)
  • "Downtown Boston at Night" (video; play in entirety; see Teaching Notes)
  • Unit 3 guiding question (new; teacher-created; see supporting materials)
  • Pinky Partners Protocol anchor chart (begun in Unit 2, Lesson 2)

Materials from Previous Lessons

New Materials

Assessment

Each unit in the K-2 Language Arts Curriculum has one standards-based assessment built in. The module concludes with a performance task at the end of Unit 3 to synthesize their understanding of what they accomplished through supported, standards-based writing.

Opening

OpeningMeeting Students' Needs

A. Building Vocabulary: Interactive Word Wall (10 minutes)

  • With excitement, share with students that today they will practice using and connecting vocabulary from the Sun, Moon, and Stars Word Wall and the Adjectives anchor chart using the Interactive Word Wall protocol.
  • Referring to the Interactive Word Wall Protocol anchor chart, read aloud the steps. Tell students you will now show them how to participate in the Interactive Word Wall protocol.
  • Invite students to move to a spot around the edge of the whole group meeting area. As needed, remind them to move safely and make space for everyone.
  • Lay the Interactive Word Wall cards and arrow cards on the floor in the middle of the whole group area, leaving space between the cards.
  • Invite students to look at the cards laid out on the floor, and then point to the place in the classroom where they have seen the same words (e.g., the Sun, Moon, and Stars Word Wall and Adjectives anchor chart).
  • Hold up each Interactive Word Wall card, reading the word aloud and explaining that all the words are adjectives, or descriptive words, from Units 1 and 2. Make sure all students can see the word.
  • Define connect (to join together) and explain that now, the class will connect two Interactive Word Wall cards using the arrow cards.
  • Model making a connection between two Word Wall card adjectives. Refer to the Interactive Word Wall Protocol anchor chart.

1. Choose an Interactive Word Wall card. Read the word on the card aloud (e.g., sliver).

2. Using an arrow card, connect this card to another Interactive Word Wall card (e.g., sliver ->crescent).

3. Read the word on the second card aloud (e.g., crescent).

4. Explain why the two Interactive Word Wall cards belong together (e.g., "These two adjectives belong together because they both can be used to describe a crescent moon").

    • Read the remaining Interactive Word Wall cards aloud: full, half.
    • Answer clarifying questions about the protocol or the steps students will follow to engage in it
  • Move students into the pre-determined small groups and distribute the sets of Interactive Word Wall cards and arrow cards.
  • Invite students to begin the Interactive Word Wall protocol.
  • Circulate and listen in as students discuss the vocabulary. Provide support and guidance as needed by reminding students of the definitions and encouraging them to use the word in a sentence.
  • When 2 minutes remain, provide students with a time reminder.
  • Signal students to stop the protocol with the use of a designated sound. Invite them to put away the word cards and arrow cards in the designated area.
  • If time permits, debrief with students by inviting them to show a thumbs-up to indicate a positive response to these questions:

"Did we put the word cards and arrow cards in the middle of our group?"

"Did we choose one word to connect to another word by using an arrow card?"

"Did we explain why the words connect together?"

  • Give students specific, positive feedback on their ability to think of how these different words connect. (Example: "Alicia connected the words full and silver because she remembers observing a full, silver moon and writing about it in the Sky notebook.") With excitement, share that next time they will get to participate in the Interactive Word Wall with their classmates in small groups!
  • As students explain the connections between words, provide sentence frames to support oral language processing. (Example: "I connected ___ and ___ because they ___.") (MMAE)
  • For ELLs: Consider inviting students to discuss the meaning of the Interactive Word Wall cards in home language groups before beginning the Interactive Word Wall protocol.
  • For ELLs: Check for comprehension by inviting students to paraphrase the rational for each connection in their own words. Restate or rephrase as necessary. (Example: "A sliver moon is a narrow, curved shape. Vishal, can you tell me, in your own words, why we connected sliver and crescent?")

Work Time

Work TimeMeeting Students' Needs

A. Focused Read-aloud: What the Moon Sees, Pages 17-30 (15 minutes)

  • Direct students' attention to the posted learning targets and read them aloud:
    • "I can ask and answer questions about night based on the text What the Sun Sees, What the Moon Sees."
    • "I can describe what the moon 'sees' using evidence from pictures, videos, and the text."
  • Display What the Sun Sees, What the Moon Sees. Model using the back cover of the text to decide where to begin reading. Say: "Today we are going to read just the part of the book about the moon. I can find that section of the book by looking at the cover and finding the picture of the moon."
  • Consider using the Reading Literature Checklist during the focused read-aloud to track students' progress toward RL.1.1 and RL.1.10.
  • Remind students that the moon does not actually "see," but the author chose to write it this way to help us imagine what is happening on earth if we looked down from the sky.
  • Read pages 17-20 slowly, fluently, with expression, and without interruption.
  • Pause at page 18. Using a total participation technique, invite responses from the group:

"What do you see in the illustrations that helps you know it is a quiet barnyard?" (Animals are sleeping; the animals are not moving.)

"What does quiet mean?" (There is very little noise.)

  • Confirm students' definition of quiet and point out how it is being used as an adjective because it describes a sound.
  • Add the word quiet to the Adjectives anchor chart.
  • Draw students' attention back to the text and begin reading aloud pages 21-24 fluently.
  • Pause at page 22. Using a total participation technique, invite responses from the group:

"What do you see in the illustrations that helps you know it is an empty street?" (There are no people or cars in the street.)

"What does empty mean?" (containing nothing)

  • Confirm students' definition of empty and explain how it is being used as an adjective because it describes what the street looks like.
  • Add the word empty to the Adjectives anchor chart.
  • Draw students' attention back to the text and begin reading aloud pages 25-26 fluently.
  • Pause at page 24. Using a total participation technique, invite responses from the group:

"What do you see in the illustrations that helps you know it is a silent playground?" (There are no kids playing and talking.)

"What does silent mean?" (There is no sound.)

  • Confirm students' definition of silent and explain how it is being used an adjective because it describes how the playground sounds.
  • Add the word silent to the Adjectives anchor chart
  • If productive, cue students with a challenge:

"What if we remove the words quiet, empty, and silent? I'll give you time to think and discuss with a partner." Reread the sentences, omitting the adjectives. (Responses will vary.).

  • Draw students' attention back to the text and read aloud pages 27-30 fluently and without interruption.
  • Display the What the Moon Sees anchor chart and tell students that they are now going to look back at the illustrations to generate ideas of what the moon sees at night during this story.
  • Flip through the illustrations on pages 15-28. Pause at each page and invite students to say out loud what the moon sees on that page and add it to the What the Moon Sees anchor chart. Refer to What the Moon Sees anchor chart (answers, for teacher reference) as necessary.
  • Tell students that they are going to continue generating ideas about what the moon might see by observing some photographs and videos of the world at night.
  • But first, they are going to use the Role-Play protocol to act out some selected pages from What the Sun Sees, What the Moon Sees.
  • To activating relevant prior knowledge, invite students to recall previous focused read-aloud sessions in which they identified learning from the illustrations and from the text to describe other evidence. (MMR)
  • For ELLs: Mini Language Dive. Ask students about the meaning of the chunks from key sentences from the What the Sun Sees, What the Moon Sees: "The moon sees/bright stars. The moon sees/quiet barnyards." Write and display student responses next to the chunks. Point to pictures in the text on display, use the icon pictures from the supporting materials in this lesson, or quickly sketch and display the meaning of the sentences. Examples:
    • Read the chunks aloud in sequence. Ask:

"What is the meaning of these sentences?" (Responses will vary.)

    • Place your finger on the chunk: bright stars. Ask:

"What kind of stars does the moon see?" (bright)

    • Point to bright. Say:

"Think about our Language Dive in Lesson 1 with blue skies and crowded barnyards. What does the writer do to say more about the skies, barnyards, and stars?" (adds a word before a thing)

"Who knows what this kind of word is called? What does it do?" (adjective; describes a thing like skies or barnyards)

"Sometimes we want to say more about something, like the stars. We want to say what they look like. We can add an adjective before the thing to say more about it, to describe it." Consider demonstrating by removing bright and reading the sentence. "Now I want to say that the stars are bright." Then add bright back in again and reread the sentence to emphasize.

"Can we say, The moon sees stars bright?" (No.)

    • Repeat the sequence above with the chunk quiet barnyards.

"Can you find another sentence in this book where the writer added a word to say more about the moon?" Tell students you will give them time to think and discuss with their partner. (All of the sentences follow this pattern, e.g., hooting owls.)

"As we read this book and others, I want you to think about how a writer puts in another word to say more about the next word."

    • Display this sentence frame: "I see _____ crayons."

"Can you put in a word before crayons to say more about the crayons?"

B. Role-Play: What the Moon Sees, Selected Pages (10 minutes)

  • Move students into pre-determined pairs and tell them they are going to use the Role-Play protocol to act out some sections of What the Sun Sees, What the Moon Sees. Remind them that they used this protocol in Unit 1 and review the Role-Play Protocol anchor chart as needed. (Refer to the Classroom Protocols document for the full version of the protocol.)
  • Invite students to begin role-playing the following sections of text:
    • Pages 17-18 (quiet barnyards)
    • Pages 19-20 (hooting owls)
    • Pages 25-26 (sleeping children)
  • Circulate as students role-play. Use the Speaking and Listening Checklist to track students' progress toward SL.1.2 and SL.1.4.
  • Give students specific, positive feedback on their ability to role-play sections of What the Sun Sees, What the Moon Sees. (Example: "Lila, you demonstrated how lively and active hooting owls would be during the night.")
  • To facilitate personal coping and self-regulation skills, model socially appropriate ways to express enthusiasm and excitement during the Role-Play protocol (e.g., give yourself a hug or take a deep breath and smile). (MME)
  • For ELLs: Ensure that students put words to their role-plays. If students can't verbalize, remind them of the word or phrase and have them repeat it. Prompt them to repeat the word or phrase as they role-play.

C. Close Viewing: What the Moon "Sees" (15 minutes)

  • With excitement, tell students that they will now participate in a close viewing of some photographs and videos to brainstorm more ideas of what the moon might "see" throughout the night. Tell students they are going to use the Close Viewing protocol. Remind them that they used this protocol in Module 1 and review as necessary using the Close Viewing Protocol anchor chart. (Refer to the Classroom Protocols document for the full version of the protocol.)
  • Display night photograph 1 and provide time for students to silently view it.
  • Invite students to turn and talk with an elbow partner:

"What could the moon 'see' or observe?" (a raccoon; dark, leafy trees)

  • Circulate and listen in as students share with each other. Record a selection of their ideas on the What the Moon Sees anchor chart.
  • Display night photograph 2 and provide time for students to silently view it. Repeat the question from above and add a selection of student ideas to the What the Moon Sees anchor chart.
  • Tell students that now that they have made observations from photographs, they are going to make observations from video clips.
  • Play "Wildlife in the Backyard at Night."
  • Invite students to turn and talk with an elbow partner:

"What could the moon 'see' or observe?" (raccoons, deer, bears, possums)

  • Circulate and listen in as students share with each other. Record a selection of their ideas on the What the Moon Sees anchor chart.
  • Play "Downtown Boston at Night."
  • Repeat the process from the first video, using the same question.
  • Direct students' attention to the completed What the Moon Sees anchor chart and read through the multitude of responses.
  • Explain that students will use these observations to write a class narrative poem describing what the moon "sees" beginning in the next lesson.
  • Before the Close Viewing protocol, provide white boards and dry-erase markers as an option for students to record (in drawing or writing) their ideas. This will also help scaffold active viewing and listening for key details. (MMR, MMAE)
  • For ELLs: Encourage students to use adjective + noun as they describe what the moon could see or observe in the photographs and videos. (Example: The moon could observe small bats flying, dark, leafy trees, curious raccoons, etc.)

Closing & Assessments

ClosingMeeting Students' Needs

A. Reflecting on Learning (10 minutes)

  • Direct students' attention to the Unit 3 guiding question and read the question aloud:
    • "How do writers use their knowledge and observations to write a story?"
  • Tell students they are going to use the Pinky Partners protocol to answer this question. Remind them that they used this protocol earlier in Module 2 and review as necessary using the Pinky Partners Protocol anchor chart. (Refer to the Classroom Protocols document for the full version of the protocol.)
  • If productive, cue students to think about their thinking:

"How will our role-play and close viewing of the photographs and videos help you write a story? I'll give you time to think and discuss with a partner." (Responses will vary.)

  • Guide students through the protocol to answer the following question:

"How can we use our knowledge of the moon and observations of the night to write a story?" (Responses will vary, but may include: We could describe the moon and what it sees; we could write our own version of What the Sun Sees, What the Moon Sees.)

  • Tell students that they will use their knowledge and observations of the moon and sun to write narrative poems with a similar structure to the text What the Sun Sees, What the Moon Sees.
  • Provide specific, positive feedback about students' discussion of the Unit 3 guiding question. (Example: "Nassir, I heard you talk about how you would write a story where the moon is watching you at school.") With excitement, tell students that tomorrow they will start writing a class narrative poem.
  • To help students anticipate and manage possible frustration while they share with pinky partners, model what to do if they don't understand their partner's idea. (Example: "If I don't understand my partner's idea, I can ask for him or her to say it a different way or add more detail that might help me understand.") (MME)
  • For ELLs: Repeat and rephrase the questions. Give students a minute to think about their response before beginning the protocol. Consider allowing students to discuss the question in home language groups before they continue in English. 

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